Great wide somewhere
by Mz-CrayZ
Summary: Belle has been living in the castle for four months since the curse was broken and Adam has yet to propose.


**I do not own any of the Characters of ****_'Beauty and the Beast'_**

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"Mademoiselle? Mademoiselle?!" Belle huffed past Lumière and Cogsworth as they called after her, hot tears streaming down her face. She headed for the stables ignoring their desperate cries and the aching of her heart. She needed to clear her head. She needed time to think. Adam had yet to propose and Belle wondered what he could possibly be waiting for.

_Why hasn't he asked yet?_ She thought, _doesn't he know how much I love him._

With that last fleeting thought Belle mounted Philippe and galloped into the forest with abandon; since the curse had been lifted the wolves that guarded the castle had migrated to a different part of the forest making the trek back and forth from the village less dangerous, this however did not do much to ease Belle's anxiety. She barely registered when they neared the edge of the forest. She was finally brought out of her reverie by a whinny from Philippe. Belle slowed to a trot before hopping off Philippe and leading him by the reins to the stable around back.

_Home_. It was just as she and her father had left it. Once, Philippe was fed and settled Belle went inside. She thought she would never see this place again or at least until her and Adam's children came along; she sighed, shaking the thought away. Making her way upstairs to her bedroom, Belle couldn't help but think it was so eerie of what a trip back in time it was to be here again(hopefully for the last time). The room hadn't been touched since the day she went to castle in search of her father. Her bed was made as she did every morning; a picture of her mother in her wedding dress on her nightstand. A pile of books she had collected over the years, sat nestled in the corner of the room underneath the window that gave her the best view of the fields behind the cottage. She couldn't count how many times she had just sat and day-dreamed on the windowsill, about all the wonders just beyond the rolling hills, over the river and through, just beyond the mountains. She remembered all those days spent just twirling until she collapsed with laughter onto the dandelion ridden fields; how could one ever forget such care free days.

_**Meanwhile back at the castle**_

Adam stood outside his room leaning against the balcony gripping it so hard his knuckles were turning white. He watched Belle gallop off into the forest without so much as a second glance back at the castle.

_This is all my fault,_ he thought,_I didn't give her a reason to stay and now..._

"She's gone." Mrs. Potts said tersely interrupting his thought. Adam had to smirk to himself at the women's audacity. She was one of the few on staff who talked to him in such a way and actually got away with it; any other he would have reminded who was in charge.

"I know." He sighed turning to her with a blank expression, although she could see his eyes had lost their normal glimmer and were now dimmed with sadness. The look ate away at the older woman's heart, but her resolve remained strong.

"Well?"

"Well what?!" he snapped, "she left, not me!"

"You didn't give her much reason to stay." She stated with a sad expression. He searched her face for the truth in her words. He looked away from her when realization dawned on him, and stared out into the forest deep in thought.

_She's right!_

Since the enchantment had been lifted he and Belle hadn't spent much time together, his absence from the outside world and sudden reappearance caused many to question where the prince had hidden for almost a decade. He had royal duties that had to be relearnt and attended to, etiquette lessons that needed rebuffing, and much, much more that needed to be done. He understood all too well the feeling of neglect. A feeling he blames solely onto why he became such an arrogant spoiled brat into a hideous beast, but how could he ever have done this to Belle? The woman who broke the curse, the women he loved with all his heart (a heart she held in the palm of her delicate hands), his one _and_ only true love. He had to make this right. He had to go to her.

Without a second thought, Adam strode quickly and determinedly past Mrs. Potts breaking into a full run for the mounted his horse, "Let's go, Etienne!"

They burst through the stable doors and headed for the village.

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**_A/N: _****PLEASE READ&REVIEW**


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